


it's clobberin' time!

by gwenstcy



Category: Fantastic Four (2015), Marvel
Genre: Anniversary, M/M, benreed - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-19 18:22:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5976670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwenstcy/pseuds/gwenstcy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The whole ride home, Ben was gripping the wheel with white knuckles, praying for Reed to shut the hell up. For a scientist, he had horrible observation skills. He didn't see the obvious fiery look in Ben's eyes, or hear his heavy breathing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	it's clobberin' time!

**Author's Note:**

> there is not enough benreed in the world, so here's a little fic I wrote for them, probably the first of many. I hope you enjoy it!

It was four years ago to the very day, nay, the very hour that Ben and Reed had first met. Ben still remembered finding the confident, cocky little nerd hiding in the junkyard. He’s replayed the scene over and over in his head for years, wondering what compelled him to follow Reed to his garage then, and every day since. Maybe it was the intrigue of Reed’s groundbreaking research, but no, Ben knew that wasn’t really it, he had never cared about school. The only reason he still went was to play for the baseball team, and Reed would probably strangle him if he dropped out. Why were they friends? Just looking at them, you can tell they are total opposites. Ben had that stocky athletic build, with sandy hair he kept slicked back. Reed, on the other hand, looked like flat stanley. No joke, it was like someone had just pulled on his limbs until they had stretched out as far as humanly possible. He towered over Ben, leaning over a microscope, bumping his glasses against the mechanism, dark curly hair falling over his face. Why did Ben spend all of his time with this boy in the dingy garage? He could easily be popular; he was handsome enough, and he was already known for his skills on the field. For a while, his teammates invited him to parties and such, with the incentive that there would be “smokin’ girls” there. He always turned them down so he could go hand Reed a screwdriver, or if he was lucky, hammer down a nail. Eventually, they stopped asking him and he became an outcast by association with Reed. But Ben didn't even care about that. He knew any normal person would, but for some unknown reason, the only opinion that mattered to him was Reed's. It had been that way for four years. He'd endured four years of his brother's endless taunts and punches, his parents concern at his limited amount of friends, and the same stupid experiment. Sure, the experiment was pretty cool, but 1,460 days of the same thing was enough to drive anyone mad. It wasn't like Reed let him do anything important anyways, he was just the heavy lifter, or the guy who grabs the scientist tools. Yeah. So on this day, this special day, Ben was a little fed up. His brother's insults had gotten worse and his blows harder since their mother was rarely around and this morning was particularly horrible. Much to Ben's chagrin, his brother remembered that today was Ben and Reed's "anniversary". That earned him four blows in four different areas (stomach, face, groin, and back). To make it worse, Ben had to deal with the handsy drunkard who had wandered their way into the junkyard. Then, he had to endure school. Enough said. Finally, he drove home with Reed, who wouldn't shut up about his new theory to make their experiment work. ("If I just reverse the charges of the elements to power the capacitator...") The whole ride home, Ben was gripping the wheel with white knuckles, praying for Reed to shut the hell up. For a scientist, he had horrible observation skills. He didn't see the obvious fiery look in Ben's eyes, or hear his heavy breathing.  
They went on with their daily routine like this, until Ben growled, in a louder voice than normal,  
"Is there anything you want to say to me Reed?"  
Reed looked around confusedly, and ultimately responded with,  
"Hand me that screwdriver?"  
That was all it took. Those four words were all it took for four years of anger to be released from Ben's heart. It seemed as if all the energy in his being had surged through into his fist which was coming down on Reed. Ben asked himself why he was doing this and the world slowed down to almost a halt. He was having an out of body experience, watching himself—No. That wasn't him about to punch Reed...it was some...thing. The thing was hurting his best friend. But...why? Why did he—or the thing that lives inside of him—want to punch Reed? Ben racked his brain for any sort of explanation but it was all just a jumble of anger, and disappointment, and jealousy, and fear. All of these, he knew, were geared towards Reed. He watched Reed's face as his fist got closer, and noticed he didn't even look surprised. In a flash, time resumed and Reed was on the ground, Ben heavily breathing over him.  
"Guess I had that coming, huh?" Reed grimaced and took off his now broken glasses.  
Ben couldn't believe he had done it. All these feelings...it just became all too much.  
"I know why you did it Ben." Reed nodded solemnly at Ben, who couldn't do anything other than open and close his mouth like a fish, no sound emitting from him.  
"You did it because you thought I forgot our anniversary. We met four years ago today. I didn't forget Ben. I could never forget. I just had a surprise...I didn't think you would remember." Reed mumbled, not quite meeting Ben's misty eyes.  
Ben's breathing was finally becoming less ragged, but Reed's words set him off and his breaths became short and shallow as he felt a foreign emotion. Hot tears rolled down his face and everything started to fit together. He recalled the first time he'd felt anything odd towards Reed, and at the time, he didn't think it was. Of course, the first was when they met—  
"Do you remember how we met Ben?" Reed whispered, stumbling up to stand face to face with Ben, who instinctively placed his hand on Reed's arm to steady him.  
Ben simply nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Tears continually rolled silently down his face as Reed did what he did best—talked.  
"I was looking for a power converter, but I came back with so much more..."  
He kept going on like this, each phrase sappier than the last and Ben went back four years.  
Ben didn't have the best childhood. He wasn't complaining, it could have been much worse, but he didn't have the one thing he wanted most, and that was family. He had a mom and a brother, but they were far from close. Reed had a mom and stepdad, who Ben remembered on this day four years ago, Reed had first expressed that they didn't understand him. He had said it multiple times since, how he felt he didn't belong. Ben could relate, and he thought back to a sleepover they had when they were eleven.  
"I got in trouble for blowing out the power again." Reed had said, lying in the bunk bed above Ben.  
"They just don't get it. As far as I'm concerned, they aren't my family. Not really." He continued.  
Ben stared at the bed above him, and was glad he couldn't see Reed when he replied.  
"Me too." And after a minute of silence, "We're family Reed."  
Ben remembered the lurch in his chest at Reed's silence and peeking up to see that Reed had his eyes closed, and a big smile on his face.  
He was suddenly thrust into reality when Reed cleared his throat, looking expectantly at Ben, who did not hear a word he had said.  
"I'm going to get you a rag." Ben's voice failed him and cracked, and his fucking tears wouldn't fucking stop running down the side of his face. He bolted out of the room, and returned with a wet cloth to clean up Reed's face. Reed had moved to the couch, and Ben shakily sat down on the opposite side. He held out the rag to Reed, who reached blindly for it.  
"I can't really see that well buddy." Reed laughed nervously, inching his way closer to Ben. "Could you do it?"  
Ben knew Reed's vision wasn't really so bad that he couldn't see the rag, but supposed it would be difficult for him to clean up his own face. Ben swallowed and nodded, reaching his arm out towards Reed's face, just barely reaching it. He was afraid to move any closer. He didn't know what would happen. Then again, Ben was transported to a different time. It was just a year ago, and Reed was at Ben's house for once. Reed's parents had put him on probation from working on his experiment, but they could never take Ben away from him. Reed still thought the junkyard was "So cool Ben!" and so they wandered around, hiding from Ben's older brother and searching for parts. They made it to the fence, separating the junkyard from grassy plains and Reed turned to look at Ben. He pushed his glasses up on his nose and grinned at Ben, who couldn't help but smile back. Reed intertwined his hands so Ben could put his foot into them, and be boosted over the fence. Ben couldn't resist complying whenever Reed wanted or needed him. Ben was hurled over the fence, landing gracefully on his ass and Reed climbed over after him like a spider. Reed extended his hand to Ben who happily took it, and was yanked up off the ground and forward all the way to the top of the tallest hill. The sun was blazing and it felt...amazing. Ben and Reed were rarely outside of his garage and then the friends vowed to be more adventurous together. They stayed up there on that hill, acting like little children, playing tag and rolling down the grass, until long after the sun went down. It was then, Ben thought, that his feelings really changed. They sat, staring at the dark sky for a very long time until Reed spoke up.  
"Hey Ben?"  
"Yeah Reed?"  
"Have you ever kissed a girl?" It seemed as if Reed had wanted to ask this for a very long time, like it was planned. It at least seemed very well thought out.  
"No, have you?" Ben answered, assuming the answer.  
"No...and I don't think I want to. Ben, I-I like boys. I'm...gay." Reed turned to look at his friend, his eyes wide and glassy, seeking approval.  
Ben turned to Reed, wincing slightly from the massive pain in his chest and lurch of his stomach. His lunch must not have agreed with him, or so he told himself.  
"Were you afraid to tell me Reed?"  
Nodding from Reed.  
“Did you wait a long time to tell me?”  
More nodding.  
Ben looked at Reed’s gorgeous features, and found himself leaning in...and he stopped. What was he doing? He had wanted to kiss Reed. Reed, his best friend since elementary school who he spent most of his waking hours with. Reed, who was gay.  
Ben didn’t know what to do, he didn’t know how to recover from what he just--almost--did. But with one look in Ben’s eyes, he knew they were in agreement to forget it ever happened, and it was never to be mentioned again. Ben was still at a loss for words at Reed’s confession.  
“Ben...just tell me if we’re still friends.” Reed looked up to Ben, who was astonished.  
“You-you thought...never mind. Come here.” Ben enveloped Reed in a shaky hug. He couldn’t remember the last time they had hugged and it was nice to feel Reed’s lanky arms wrapping around his small frame.  
“Ben.”  
Ben snapped to attention, and back to the present at the sound of Reed’s voice, and jumped at how close he was. Reed was practically on top of him, and their knees were knocking together.  
“You there buddy?” Reed smiled and Ben finally found his voice.  
“I’m so sorry Reed. I’ve just...had that punch inside me for a long time.” It was a shaky voice, but at least he could speak.  
“I’m sure I deserved way more than that Ben, you’ve had plenty of reasons to punch me in the past four years. I mean, I am the reason you don’t have any friends..” Reed rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous habit he had, which normally was used during science fairs and presentations, and almost never for Ben.  
“Hey, for one, I chose to have no friends, but that’s not even true, you’re my friend. My best friend, Reed. You’re the only person I need. You’re the only one I want.” Ben realized that may sound borderline gay, but...he was.  
Ben was gay. And he couldn’t believe it took him this long to realize it. That was why he spent every day with Reed, why he had never kissed a girl....why he had wanted...still wants...to kiss Reed. That was why he had punched him. Huh. He was such an idiot. His emotions didn’t make any sense to him, and he mistook his feelings, which ended with a bloody Reed and a reminiscent Ben.  
Reed smiled and patted Ben’s leg affectionately, but his eyesight failed him, causing his trajectory to be...slightly off. His hand landed a little too high on Ben’s leg, causing him to jump.  
“Oh, sorry. Can’t see..” He laughed nervously, again.  
“Oh right, sorry about your glasses…” Ben trailed off.  
“I can fix them. Could you clean me up now?”  
“Oh right, I forgot.” Ben embarrassedly tried to remember how long ago Reed had asked him too, and realized that was why he was sitting so close.  
Ben carefully smoothed Reed’s hair out of his face and proceeded to mop up the blood.  
Silence, for a while.  
But Reed just couldn’t keep his mouth shut.  
“The hill, Ben. I didn’t forget. I said I would, but I didn’t.”  
“Yeah. Me too.” Ben whispered, his shaky hands still trying to fix Reed.  
Reed took Ben’s hands away from his face, throwing the rag aside and intertwining their fingers together.  
"Ben, look at me." Reed focused intensely on Ben's downcast eyes.  
Ben reluctantly looked up, red in the face.  
"I'm going to tell you how I remember this day, four years ago, ok?" Reed squeezed Ben's hand encouragingly.  
Ben nodding.  
"Alright. Let's see, where to begin." Reed had that dreamy look in his eyes, one that always brought a smile to Ben's face.  
"Remember when we had career day in fifth grade?"  
"That was when I first..noticed you." Ben mumbled.  
"You said you wanted to be a baseball player. And I mean, I don't normally go for the athlete type, or maybe I do I don't know, you're the only person I've ever cared about. But uh...you just caught my attention Ben. You just seemed like you cared. Everyone else was either boring or bored and you were passionate, and I was too. I wanted to be passionate together." Reed was blushing almost as profusely as Ben, who was having trouble meeting Reed's loving gaze.  
"I needed a power converter right? I didn't really have to go to your junkyard to get it, I could've just gotten it at the hardware store. I just wanted to see you. My creepy way of trying to make friends." Reed looked at Ben who had that horrible lurching feeling in his stomach. At least now he knew what if meant.  
"Ben. It's your turn."  
"What?"  
"You have to tell me how you remembered our time on the hill. You owe me that."  
Ben let out a shaky sigh. This was it.  
"I guess I do."  
Their hands were still intertwined and Reed gave another encouraging squeeze which eased Ben's nerves, causing him to smile. One look in Reed's expectant eyes and he knew they wanted the same thing.  
"You told me you were gay and I don't know Reed, my first instinct was to kiss you, and no matter how hard I try and push these thoughts out of my head they won't leave and for a while now I thought all these feelings were anger towards you, that's why I..uh...hit you, but they're just the opposite. I don't know man. I'm not as fucking eloquent as you are." Ben was nervous. And wanted to punch something.  
"You don't need eloquence Ben."  
Silence.  
"What was the surprise going to be? For uh, our anniversary?" Ben asked quietly, bringing a smile to Reed's perfect face.  
He jumped up and dragged Ben along with him, through the house and past Reed's unassuming parents.  
"You want a snack boys?"  
"No mom, we're good."  
"Happy anniversary." Reed's stepfather laughed as they ran up the stairs.  
"Please forgive my corniness. I like to go all out." Reed grinned as he opened the door.  
The room was transformed, and string lights hung around the bunk beds. Their old science experiments were showcased around the room. Ben recognized a toy car he had given Reed, what seemed like forever ago. There was a pile of old birthday cards he had given Reed.  
"You've kept everything. Even the little stuff." Ben was astonished.  
Reed ignored him, hopping around the room, looking for something.  
"Aha!" He yelled as he pulled a large box with baseball wrapping paper, and handed it to read.  
"Here you go buddy. Thanks for putting up with me all these years."  
Ben ripped away at the wrapping paper, abnormally very impatient. He opened the box to reveal...a collage. A collage of pictures of Ben and Reed over the past four years.  
"I didn't even know there were that many pictures of us..."  
"Me either, until I found them all on my mom's camera. Your mom helped too." Reed smiled at the look on Ben's face.  
"We can hang it in the garage or you can take it home, or whatever. It's yours."  
"Thanks Reed. I love it."  
This was a very high praise from Ben and Reed was pleased with himself.  
"I gotta ask, what's up with the lights?" Ben raised an eyebrow at Reed.  
"Mood lighting." Reed joked wiggling his eyebrows, but Ben wanted that to actually be the case.  
"Actually, I made us dinner. So whenever you're hungry I figured we could eat up here and it'd be like the stars on the hill."  
The hill had been bulldozed into apartment homes a couple of months ago, devastating Reed and Ben. It was their favorite spot after the night that they had played there and Reed had come out. And it was gone. But Ben now realized, it didn't matter. He didn't care where they were as long as they were together.  
"Reed..."  
"You don't have to say anything. I know you like it."  
"But I want to. This is perfect...you are perfect. There is no one I would rather spend this starry evening with."  
Silence.  
"Look who's eloquent now." Reed grinned, and Ben noticed he had put on his backup glasses, which were far too large for his face. It was adorable.  
"Uh..you hungry? I'm going to get our dinner." Reed suddenly looked uncomfortable and ran out of the room. That was Ben's cue to back off. Maybe Reed didn't feel the same way.  
A few minutes later and Reed was back with two plates of ravioli.  
Silent eating.  
"Reed?"  
"Hmm?"  
"How did you know you were gay?"  
Reed choking on pasta.  
"Uhh...why do you ask?" Reed laughed nervously.  
"I'm only curious." Ben lied.  
"Well...I" Reed rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "In all honesty?"  
Reed nodding furiously.  
"I-I kinda, well...sorta...had a thing for you." Reed looked nervously up at Ben.  
Ben's stomach lurched more than ever before, and he thought he might actually throw up, fortunately he didn't, but he did let out a horribly loud belch.  
"I didn't like you because of your table manners." Reed mumbled.  
"Had a thing for me? As in past tense?" Ben knew what he wanted. He hoped Reed did too.  
Reed looked at Ben, who had a deeply thoughtful look, as if he were trying to tell Reed something. Reed didn't understand. He was book smart, but he couldn't understand people to save his life. Even Ben, who he'd known for years. But that's why he loved him. Ben was an enigma Reed desperately wanted to crack.  
"Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have tomato sauce on my face?" Reed was utterly clueless.  
"You're such an idiot." Ben said restlessly as he leaned across the table to kiss Reed.  
As their lips touched, Reed flinched. Oh no. Ben had misjudged. Stupid, fucking idiot he was. Ben pulled away, but Reed grabbed his face and...kissed back. It was hard and sloppy, and Reed's elbow was in the ravioli but neither of them cared. It was absolute bliss.  
"Took you long enough." Reed said in between breaths.  
"Oh shut up!" Ben aggressively breathed, pulling Reed back to him.  
When Reed's mom came and checked on them later, they were both crammed into the lower bunk, fast asleep in each other's arms.  
Their hearts were full, and they were complete.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I love feedback and be on the lookout for more benreed fics from yours truly.


End file.
